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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. rash — a series
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. prune — to trim
  5. tear — from crying
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. current — of water
  8. prune — to trim
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. rash — hasty
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. scale — in music
  13. tear — from crying
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. scale — size or range
  17. current — electric
  18. stem — to come from
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. current — happening now
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. tear — to rip
  24. scale — for weighing

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com